One of the more intriguing pictures on the upcoming fall festival calendar is “Texas Killing Fields,” which will premiere at the Venice Film Festival which kicks off tomorrow. Featuring a strong cast including action staples Sam Worthington and Jeffrey Dean Morgan and rising stars Jason Clarke, Jessica Chastain (co-stars in John Hillcoat‘s upcoming ‘Wettest County‘) and Chloe Moretz, the story revolves around the true story of a series if unsolved murders in League City, Texas, where 21 women were killed or have disappeared since 1971. We’ve been lukewarm on what we’ve seen so far, but surely there is more to the film than its cast and the surname of its director, Ami Canaan Mann?
A quick peek at the history of its development suggests there is. For one thing, Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle was long attached to the project and, upon exiting, described it as “a fantastic script, really special script, but it was just so dark it would never get made.” Also linked to the project was Bradley Cooper who, at the beginning of his rise in 2009, was rumored to join presumably in the role eventually taken by Morgan. Surely the past attraction of such talent has something to say about this project, penned by “an ex-cop from Galveston”?
Put simply, we’re interested to see what Mann (daughter of Michael) has crafted here, and whether her directorial debut was worthy of its competition slot in Venice. Whatever reception it receives on the Lido, the rest of us won’t have to wait too long to see for ourselves with a October 7th 14th theatrical release planned (Reps for the film tell us the film’s release has been pushed back a week). A new poster and a handful of photos have now been unveiled as well to further whet our appetites. [RopesOfSilicon]
